Camera-holding device.



E. S. McALL.

CAMERA HOLDING DEVICE.

APPLlCATION FILED APR.29,1915.

Patented Dec. 12, 1916.

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E. S. McALL.

CAMERA HOLDING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED APR.29. 1915.

Patented Dec. 12, 1916.

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EDWARD S. MGALL, OF ILION, NEW YORK.

CAMERA-HOLDING DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 112, iaie.

Application filed April 29, 1915.. Serial No. 24,666.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD S. MGALL, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Ilion, in the county of Herkimer and State of New York, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Camera-Holding Devices, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification.

This invention relates to improvements in camera-holding devices which include means to enable a camera to be adjusted for use by moving it angularly on a horizontal axis, the main object of the invention being to facilitate the operation of cameras under conditions which now are apt to be more or less troublesome.

The invention consists of a camera-holding device comprising the parts, and having the construction and arrangement of parts, which are hereinafter described and specified in the claims.

On the accompanying two sheets of drawings, on which like reference-numerals designate like parts of different views: Fig ure 1 is a side elevation of a camera-holding device which embodies the invention in its preferred form; Fig. 2, a front elevation of this device; Fig. 3, a plan thereof; Fig.4, another side elevation thereof; Fig. 5, another plan, the relative positions of the parts differing from those shown in Fig. 3; and Fig. 6, a side and sectional View, the relative positions of the parts being the same as shown in Fig. 5.

The particular camera-holding device shown comprises what is essentially a low tripod,'a platform hinged thereto, and a clamp which is eflective to hold the platform adjusted with relation to the base in any of a large number of positions. it differs much in character from ordinary tripods is plainly indicated by its utility in various places where any of them are useless, as well as by peculiarities of its construction and its mode ofoperation. For example, it will properly support a camera in a desired position when the device is held by the hand against a wall, or post, or trunk of a tree, or the steeply sloping or vertical face of a rock or clifi, as illustrated in Fig. 1, in which the surface against. which the device is held is represented by the irregular line a, and the camera y br ken in That or when the device stands, as shown in Fig. 4, on a small and inclined surface 6, such as that of a rock, log, or branch of a tree, or on a flat surface which is too small to enable a common. tripod to stand on it and which may be the top of a post, stump of a tree, or something else.

The tripod and platform of this device are made from thin sheet metal, the head of the tripod consisting of a single piece of stock and being the base on which the platform is mounted. This base is an approximately ll-shaped frame including the flat portion 1 (Fig. 2), the lateral flanges or sides 2 and 3, which are preferably straight, and the perforated parts 4 and 5 which are continuations of the flanges and form a pair of eyes at the broad end of the base. The projection 6, consisting of a struck up portion of the stock of the frame or base, is one of the feet of the tripod. The platform, which is also a single piece. of stock, includes the part 7 the lateral flanges or sides 8 and 9, and the perforated continuations 10 and 11 of the flanges, the part 7 being flat except where it forms the annular struck up cameraeseat 12, and the portions 10 and 11 forming eyes similar to the eyes 4 and 5 of the base. The eyes of the platform fit loosely between the eyes of the base and the flanges of the platform between the flanges of the base, so that the platform and base may lie close together as appears by Figs. 5 and 6. The screw 13 having the milled head 14 extends loosely through the part 7 at the center of the seat 12, the cotter pin 15, which passes through the stem of the screw and lies close to the face of the platform, being a keeper for the screw.

The bolt 16, having at one end the head 17 and at the other the winged nut 18, passes through the eyes of the platform and base, and on this bolt are also the spacing-sleeve 19, the, friction-washers 20 and 21, and a yoke comprising the bar 22, eyes 23 and 24, and parts 25 and 26 which form both the ends of the yoke and the two other feet of the tripod. The sleeve 19 fits closely between the eyes 10 and 11, each frictionwasher is between an eye of the base and the adjacent eye of the platform, and the eyes. of the yoke surround the bolt outside of the eyes of the base.

Although the parts of the device, might be otherwise arranged, the arrangement shown and descr bed is preferred because it enables the parts to fit together as shown in Figs. 5 and 6, and renders the distance between the feet 25 and 26 greater than the width of the base or frame at its broad end. The bolt and three pairs of eyes constitute means by which the base, platform and yoke are hinged together, each of these three parts being angularly movable on the axis of the bolt with relation to the two others, and the bolt, spacing-sleeve and nut form a clamp by which the parts may be tightly held in various positions to which they may be adjusted.

It will be seen that whether the base is vertical or nearly horizontal the platform may be either horizontal or vertical or may be inclined at any desired angle to the plane of the horizon. The yoke so turns that the feet 25 and 26, which are fast together and turn together on the axis of the bolt, may be located behind the bolt as they are shown in Figs. 1, 3 and 4, or at the sides of the base as they are shown in Figs. 5 and 6, their length being much less than that of the base or that of the bolt, so that they do not project far from the base at the sides thereof and so that when the device either is held against a vertical or steeply sloping surface, or rests on a flat or slightly inclined surface, there is but little space between the base and that surface and the device is far more stable than an ordinary tripod having legs that are many times as long as the head of the tripod. The camera rests on the seat 12 and is fastened to the platform by the screw 13, when the holding-device and camera are in use, the screw fitting in a hole in the frame of the camera and engaging with an internal screw-thread formed in that frame. Then the feet 25 and 26 are behind the bolt. The platform may be readily adjusted and clamped in the desired position when the feet rest on the object on which the device is to stand or against which it is to be held. Of course the axis of the bolt will usually be horizontal when the platform is adjusted and the camera operated.

A camera-holding device like that described and suitable to hold a small camera may be conveniently carried in an ordinary coat-pocket.

It will be understood that the invention may be embodied in devices differing in details of construction from the camera-holding device shown and particularly described herein.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. A camera-holding device comprising a base, a platform hinged thereto, feet adjacent to the ends of the hinge, and a clamp effective to hold the platform adjusted with relation to the base, these feet being fast together and their length being less than that of the base and less than the width of that part of the base which is next to the hinge.

2. A camera-holding device comprising a base, a platform hinged thereto, a clamp effective to hold the platform adjusted with relation to the base, and three short feet which with the base form a low tripod, two of the feet being adjacent to the ends of the hinge, and the other being fast on the base.

4. A camera-holding device comprising a base, a platform hinged thereto, a clamp effective to hold the platform adjusted with relation to the base, and three short feet which with the base form a low tripod, two of the feet being adjacent to the ends of the hinge and being pivotally connected with the base, and the other being fast on the base.

5. A camera-holding device comprising a. base, a platform hinged thereto, a fastening to secure the camera on the platform. a clamp effective to hold the platform adjusted with relation to the base, and three short feet which with the base form a low tripod, two of the feet being adjacent to the ends of the hinge and the other being fast on the base.

6. A camera-holding device comprising a base, a platform hinged thereto, a screw attached to and extending through the platform, a clamp effective to hold the platform adjusted with relation to the base, and three short feet which with the base form a low tripod, two of the feet being adjacent to the ends of the hinge, and the platform including a camera-seat surrounding the screw and the other being fast on the base.

7 A camera-holding device comprising a base, a platform, a yoke, and a bolt 011 which the three other parts are mounted and on which they are angularly movable, the ends of the yoke forming feet.

8. A camera-holding device comprising a base, a platform, a yoke, a bolt on which said three other parts are mounted and on which they are angularly movable, a spacing-sleeve, and a pair of friction-washers, the ends of the yoke forming feet, the base, platform and yoke each having a pair of eyes through which the bolt extends, the spacing-sleeve being on the bolt between the eyes of each pair, each of the friction-washers being on the bolt between an eye of the base and an eye of the platform, and the eyes of both the base and platform being he 1 tween those of the yoke.

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9. A camera-holding device comprising a base, a platform hinged thereto, a clamp, and two feet which are pivotally connected with the base, the clamp being efiective to hold the platform and feet adjusted with relation to the base.

10. A camera-holding device comprising a base, a platform hinged thereto, a clamp, and three feet which with the base form a tripod, two of the feet being adjacent to the ends of the hinge, the clamp being effective to hold the platform adjusted with relation to the base, and the base and platform each having lateral flanges, those of one part fitting between those of the other.

11. A camera-holding device comprising a base which is narrow at one end and the lateral edges of which are straight and diverge as they recede from that end and which has eyes at its broad end, a platform which is broader at one end than at the other and which has eyes at its broad end and a camera-seat at its narrow end, a bolt which extends through the eyes of the base and platform, a spacing-sleeve on the bolt, and three feet which with the base form a tripod, two of the feet being adjacent to the eyes of the base and the other being on the base close to its narrow end.

12. A camera-holding device comprising a base which is narrow at one end and the lateral edges of which are straight and diverge as they recede from that end and which has eyes at its broad end, a platform which is broader at one end than at the other and which has eyes at its broad end and a camera-seat at its narrow end, a bolt which extends through the eyes of the base and platform and on which at one end is a winged nut, the eyes of the platform being between those of the base, a spacing-sleeve which surrounds the bolt and fits between the eyes of the platform, and three feet which with the base form a tripod, one of the feet being on the base close to its narrow end and the others being on the bolt and being angularly movable thereon, one of them being next to the head of the bolt and the other next to the winged nut.

13. A camera-holding device comprising a base which is narrow at one end and the lateral edges of which diverge as they recede from that end, a platform which is broader at one end than at the other and has on it a camera-seat, the base and platform being pivotally connected together at their broad ends, a fastening to secure a camera on the platform, and a clamp effective to hold the platform adjusted with relation to the base.

1a. A. camera-holding device comprising a base which is narrow at one end and has lateral flanges which diverge as they recede from that end, a platform which is broader at one end than at the other and has on it a camera-seat, the base and platform being pivotally connected together at their broad ends, a fastening to secure a camera on the platform, and a clamp effective to hold the platform adjusted with relation to the base, the platform being adjustable to a position in which it fits close to the base from end to end and between the flanges of the base.

EDWARD S. MoALL.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, 1". C.

It is hereby certified that in Letters Patent No. 1,208,344, granted December 12, 1916, upon the application of Edward S.McA11, of Ilion, New York, for an improvement in Camera-Holding Devices, errors appear in the printed specification requiring correction as follows: Page 2,1ine 109, claim 6, after the Word hinge and before the comma insert the words and the other being fast on the base; same page and claim, at the end of line 110 insert a period and strike out line 111; and that the said Letters Patent should be read Withthese corrections therein that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Oflice.

Signed and sealed this 9th day of January, A. D., 1917.

F. WV. H. CLAY,

[SEAL] Acting Commissioner of Patents 

